Crusaders Wrap: Game 11 vs Drumheller

Crusaders 0 – Dragons 3

The Crusaders were looking to build off their 8-1 clobbering over the Drayton Valley Thunder, Wednesday night. Whilst the Drumheller Dragons were wanting to pick themselves up after a disappointing loss to the Calgary Canucks

Here’s how it went down:

FIRST PERIOD

It was a fairly even first period.

The Crusaders had the lead in the shot count (12 to 4) whilst the Dragons had a good chunk of the possession.

Despite two power-play opportunities, the home side was unable to capitalize on either of their odd-man chances. Their best chances fell to Ty Readman who rifled two right into the goalie’s chest from the low slot.

Their biggest issue was getting the puck out of their own zone. A number of times their younger defensemen panicked and a passed the puck directly onto a Dragons stick or into their own player. They’ll learn to be confident in themselves eventually, as for now though, it’s an issue.

Either way, both teams headed into the locker rooms with the game still scoreless after 20.

SECOND PERIOD

The ice began to tilt in favour of the Dragons throughout the second.

The Dragons experience was present as they pressed and pressed on the Crusaders defense, eventually forcing a powerplay. On that powerplay, Brandon Vogel made two huge back-to-back stops, but his teammates failed to clear the puck and the Dragons grabbed the first goal of the game.

Besides the goal, it was a pretty quiet second period. Drumheller held the puck for the majority of the time yet failed to really do anything with it. Sherwood Park did well to limit their scoring chances.

However, even though they played well defensively they couldn’t produce anything on the offensive side of the puck. Drumheller limited them to only four shots in the period.

THIRD PERIOD

The third period was when the Dragons opened up the game.

Just 40 second in, Brady Risk slotted home his teams second of the game. Right before that goal, it Payton McIsaac was clearly slapped in the face by a high stick, however, no call was made and the play resulted in a goal. An unfortunate break for the Crusaders.

The Crusaders pressed a little hard after that with their best chances failing to Merritt Oszytko- following a nice feed from Ty Readman and Deklan Whillians who had a breakaway attempt but was driven away from the goal.

Drumheller sealed their victory, again, on the powerplay with a goal from Markus Boguslavsky.

If the Crusaders were a more experienced team they probably would’ve won tonight. However, close games like this will benefit them in the long run and eventually, they’ll come out on the winning side.

THE UPS

William Zapernick had a great game at both ends of the ice. He’s the hardest working player on the team every night and tonight was no different.

Blair Bush was active defensively. He broke up a number of plays whilst also playing hard on the boards. Since the start of the season, Bush has developed into one of the Crusaders best defensemen.

Brandon Vogel had another solid game for the Crusaders. This loss can’t be pinned on him, once again he gave his team the chance to win this one.

THE DOWNS

Both special teams units were very weak. On the powerplay, they didn’t give themselves many good scoring opportunities and ended up going 0/3. On the penalty kill, they allowed 2 goals on three of the Dragons powerplays.

Brandon Wallis was almost invisible. He had one scoring attempt from the top of the right face of the circle but it barely troubled the Dragons netminder.

They had trouble getting the puck out of their own zone.

Struggled to find any offense throughout the whole game. Out of their 23 shots maybe 3 or 4 of them were good scoring chances.

This team struggles to make simple plays. They often get caught doing too much which results in turnover and scoring opportunities for the other team.

Couldn’t jump on any rebounds that the Dragons were giving up.

UP NEXT

They’ll be in action again this Wednesday against the Lloydminster Bobcats which should be a winnable game.

Crusaders Wrap: Game 11 vs Drumheller was last modified: October 26th, 2017 by Liam Horrobin

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